Dope (2017–…): Season 2, Episode 1 - In This Business You Have No Friends, Only Enemies - full transcript
[news reporter] Escobar is wanted by
American authorities for his alleged role
in smuggling thousands of tons of cocaine
into the United States.
[officer] There's a bag of powder.
Bag of powdered cocaine.
- Hey Larry, he has powder on him.
- [officer] You're under arrest.
On a weekly basis we intercept
at least 1,500 kilograms of cocaine.
- [officer on radio] Three, two, one...
- Yeah, that's them right there.
[trafficker] Go, go, go!
[Papi]
We are moving about 150 to 200 kilo.
You know, there's a lot of money involved.
[El Hombre]
If I had to burn, I burnt.
If I had to kill, I kill.
[officer on radio]
Is there any Opa Loc units monitoring?
[El Animal]
They don't want it. They need it.
So we're the doctors.
[El Animal] My name is El Animal.
That means the animal.
[El Animal] I do a lot of fucked up shit,
but I carry myself
as a businessman.
If you pull out a gun,
you have to kill me.
You can't leave me alive.
They know the consequences.
[narrator] El Animal heads up the US side
of a major coke trafficking ring.
[El Animal]
Our Caribbean operation is big,
but it's to a level
where you can control it.
I receive cocaine
from the Dominican Republic.
My job is to make sure that it goes
from point A to point B.
[El Animal] We're probably talking about
15 to 20 keys weekly.
In terms of money we're probably
talking about 2 million dollars weekly,
clean money.
With the Caribbean connection,
the powder cocaine is always available.
That's snow!
[El Animal] It never stop snowing in Miami.
It is the Magic City.
[narrator] El Animal supplies a network
of dealers across Miami and beyond.
[El Animal] Everybody pays. Everybody.
I don't give a fuck who you are.
Everybody pays.
[El Animal] If I help you,
and I find out
that you're trying to fuck me,
I will come and fuck everybody
in your fucking family.
We in the business to make money,
and you know we cannot get crossed.
[narrator] Today is payday.
[El Animal] I'm here to pick up the money.
- That's what it's all about.
- [dealer] Check that.
[El Animal] The dope is good,
so the money always has to be right,
and that's just the way it is.
[narrator]
Flush with his customers' cash,
it's time for El Animal
to order more coke.
[El Animal] Good evening, Papi.
How's it going?
Good.
This Friday.
Yes.
Ciao.
The shipment's on the way for Friday.
So...
we just gotta play it by ear now.
Wait till Friday, get the phone call,
and we'll take it from there. That's it.
Papi is the inventor
of getting it here safe.
Papi is an individual
that I met in prison,
and were loyal to each other in prison.
He makes sure that we get
what we need.
[narrator] El Animal's supplier, Papi,
is based 800 miles southeast of Miami.
in the Caribbean's number one
cocaine distribution hub:
The Dominican Republic.
[Latino hip hop playing]
Security.
How are you?
Yes, all good. All good. I'm here.
Yes, we're good to go.
Okay.
Around 2:00, 2:30 in the morning?
All good.
Okay, good.
[narrator] Papi and his trafficking gang
are expecting
a 100 kilo coke shipment tonight.
Right now the Colombians is actually
playing a lot of games,
so my cocaine, I get it from Peru.
[Papi] As of right now, within a month,
we are moving about 150 to 200 kilos.
Sometimes, it could be 300.
You know there's a lot of money involved.
[narrator] Papi's paid his Peruvian
contacts a million dollars up front,
and right now, all they can do is wait.
[Papi] Once it reaches my hand,
I have my own people that I work with
who takes out everything that comes in.
It's family.
They come from the family.
We don't have anyone outside
that we don't know about
the we don't know where they come from,
because it's not safe.
I've been doing this since I was 13, 14,
but I don't want my children
to be in the business.
Just like my father didn't want me
in the business,
but once you reach to an age
that you are involved in the family,
there's no way that you can be out of it.
[phone rings]
Yes, hi.
Yes, we’re good to go.
Everything is ready.
Okay.
[narrator] 2:00 a.m., and the Peruvians
are making their move.
Papi's coke comes from the Peruvian Andes
where the price of a kilo starts
at just $1,000.
The suppliers have
already smuggled it over land
to the north coast of Venezuela.
Now, they have to get it 500 miles
across the Caribbean Sea.
Just inside Dominican waters,
a local fishing boat collects
the million-dollar cargo.
[Papi] Go!
Follow me.
[narrator]
As the boat docks, the risks soar.
[Papi] Go, go, go, go.
Go, go, go.
[narrator] This area is heavily patrolled
by the local police.
[Papi] Go, go, go! Move it!
[narrator]
Rival gangs also stalk the river,
determined to seize
any shipments by force.
[Papi] Quick! Work, work, work!
Go!
Quick, quick, quick!
These are kilos of cocaine.
Mission accomplished.
[narrator] Each kilo is now worth
over ten times its original price.
[henchman] It's good merchandise.
[Papi] Okay, good.
How are you?
Everything is in perfect condition.
You can expect it all.
Okay.
I'll call you when it's sent out.
That was the guy.
You know what you have to do.
When you're done, call me.
[narrator] Two of Papi's most trusted men
must now traffic the coke 90 miles east
across the Mona Passage
to Puerto Rico,
the gateway to the US mainland.
But standing guard is the full might
of the US Air and Marine operations.
And they've just scrambled
a DHC-8 surveillance plane.
[Agent Skeen] I received information
from a trusted law enforcement partner
in regards to a contraband load
that's coming from the northern part
of Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico.
so what I'm doing is going out,
and I'm searching
the normal smuggling routes
or historical smuggling routes,
looking for this vessel.
[narrator] Their intel says
the traffickers are using a fishing boat
that has just left port.
[Skeen] The drug organizations,
they want to enter Puerto Rico,
because once contraband's in Puerto Rico,
it's considered in United States.
Therefor, anything leaving Puerto Rico
doesn't have to go through customs.
They know that if they can
get it into Puerto Rico,
It's easier for them
to get into the States.
I got a few Targets in the zone.
Just trying to see what's what.
[Skeen] I've a vessel running due north.
Looks like he's directly
in the Mona Passage right now,
maybe approximately 40 miles south
of Mona Island.
Hey, can you please advise
what assets I have available to play?
[narrator] The suspect vessel is
already halfway to Puerto Rico.
It needs to be intercepted, fast.
Back at base, a Blackhawk helicopter
is ready for takeoff.
Its crew carry a 50 caliber rifle...
capable of destroying
a trafficker's boat engine from the air.
[Agent Hohol] Hey Ray, do me a favor.
Circle this vessel.
[Ray] Roger.
[Hohol] Kinda like the type
we're looking for right now.
However, this one is blue in color.
So we're going to continue our mission
and keep looking for that suspect vessel.
[pilot] There's another vessel
off the nose here.
[Hohol] All right, off the nose
just below the horizon,
approximately three miles.
[Hohol] Okay, I have the vessel at 11:00
approximately half mile away closing.
[pilot] Yeah, that's them right there.
[Hohol] We're gonna try to link up
with one of my Marine units
to go in and take a closer look.
We are on a vessel inbound
to the Combate area
approximately three miles offshore.
- [Pilot] Okay.
- [Hohol] We've got you in sight.
Roger. Good. Copy.
They're about 15 nautical miles from us.
Roger that.
[narrator]
The chopper will guide the Marine unit in
so they can search the suspect vessel.
You always prepare for the worst.
[Agent Perez] They're protecting the drug,
and we're the bad guy for them.
You want to stop them no matter what.
you want to make sure
they don't make it to land.
[Hohol] I got two POV's,
appears to be one outboard engine.
It's approximately
one mile just to the left of your bow.
Stand by. Forward ten.
Come forward.
Nine, eight, seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one.
Hold your rate, good rate.
[Perez] Buenos dias.
[narrator]
The boat matches their intel.
[Perez]
Do you have your I.D., sir?
- Where did you come from?
- [Fisherman] From over there.
We're on our way back.
- [Perez] Were you diving?
- [Fisherman] Yes.
- [Perez] What did you catch?
- [Fisherman] Lobster.
[Perez] Nice lobster.
You have to think like a smuggler.
Where would I put that?
What place are they not going to check?
[Perez]
And then play that game, so what if?
If I'm them, where should I hide it?
Really friendly.
They were willing to show everything.
The fish they have, the spear gun,
the scuba tank.
[Perez]
It matched what they were saying.
They were just fishing.
[narrator] The boat is clean.
Sometimes when we're gonna send
the shipment that is gonna be a lot,
what we do is that we let the police know
that something's going to Puerto Rico,
but we tell them all the information
about the boat with nothing on there,
and basically all the attention
is going to be into that,
they're gonna leave us alone
so we can go through.
[Papi]
And that's the way we stay in business.
[narrator] Once the coke lands safely
in Puerto Rico, its value doubles.
["Run on" cover by Blues Saraceno playing]
♪ You may run for a long time ♪
♪ Run on, for a long time ♪
♪ Run on, for a long time ♪
♪ Let me tell you
that God's gonna cut you down... ♪
[narrator] Puerto Rico has been used
as a stepping stone
for cocaine headed
to the US mainland for decades,
and the whole island is reeling
from the side effects.
Homeless addicts roam the streets,
and over 100 ultraviolent gangs fight
for control of this lucrative trade.
♪ Let me tell you
that God's gonna cut you down ♪
♪ Let me tell you
that God's gonna cut you down ♪
♪ You may run for a long time ♪
♪ Run on, for a long time ♪
♪ Run on, for a long time ♪
♪ Let me tell you
that God's gonna strike you down ♪
I don’t have scruples,
because when I started
in this business of drugs,
I had to learn...
to defend myself.
If I had to burn, I had to burn.
If I had to kill, I had to kill.
[narrator] It's El Hombre's job to move
the coke from Puerto Rico to Miami.
The sea routes aren’t what they were.
We’re using other routes now,
by air, private planes,
and other routes.
In this business, you have to be clever.
You don't have to be the fastest.
You have to last the longest,
be the most consistent.
[narrator]
Like most Puerto Rican traffickers,
El Hombre gets paid in coke,
which he sells on the local market.
What you see here is solid,
pure, straight from the plant,
and it hasn’t been cut.
This has been prepared
for an injecting addict.
A speedball.
This can’t be used by someone who snorts.
[El Hombre]
Why? Because it will… destroy you.
[narrator]
To turn his coke into cash,
El Hombre employs an army
of street dealers.
The boys in the street carry
a big pack of maybe 60 bags.
They’re going to sell five kilos
of coke per month.
I can make 2.3 million in a year…
Dollars.
[El Hombre]
But the problem with today’s youth
they’re just concerned with
making money for themselves,
and the police are tough,
if they get caught, they sing.
[narrator] Using local street dealers
creates a potentially fatal flaw
in the supply chain.
So, you have to look after yourself.
[El Hombre]
You first, you second, and you third.
In this business I’m in,
you don’t have any friends.
[Agent Ortiz] All right, guys.
We're gonna be having an operation today
with PRPD, San Juan Drug Unit.
We're gonna be doing a search op.
[Ortiz] Everybody gear up.
We're rolling in five, okay?
[Agent] Okay.
[narrator]
Tonight, Agent Ortiz is leading a raid
into San Juan's
drug-infested housing projects.
Their mission: to disrupt
the entire Caribbean supply chain
by targeting its weakest link.
[Ortiz] We'll be arresting
the drug runners, the drug sellers,
the people who just walk out
of the streets.
Once you arrest of the small fish,
the drug sellers in the caserios,
then you get to interview
and you get to flip them,
and they'll go ahead and give us
the next step in the ladder
that goes all the way up
to the criminal organization.
You guys ready?
[Ortiz] This housing project, Montadillo,
is actually one of the most violent
housing projects in the San Juan area.
[Ortiz] We've had cases when,
as we are approaching,
shots have been fired from rifles,
from AK-47s,
so we gotta be extra careful when we're
dealing with these types of criminals.
[officer]
He’s over there, let me out here.
- [Ortiz] Okay, we're gonna go in there.
- [officer] Yeah.
[narrator]
As soon as they enter the projects,
the dealers scatter.
[officer] Over there, grab him!
Over there, over there.
[narrator] A dealer is busted
with coke and cannabis,
but the day's not over yet.
The Task Force need multiple arrests
to increase their chances
of flipping someone.
[radio chatter]
[narrator] For the cops,
Darkness makes the project
even more dangerous.
[officer] Go, go! He's over there!
Over there, over there!
Over there, over there. Just in front.
They got drug dealers
with cash and cell phones.
[Ortiz] We'll get a search warrant
and download the contents
on the telephone.
You're gonna see these people like to keep
in touch via text messaging applications,
[Ortiz] emails, they'll take pictures
of themselves with their firearms,
with money, with drugs,
so all of this is of evidentiary value
for us to further
our criminal investigations.
[Ortiz] You'll see
that it would all link up to gangs
in the Dominican Republic
from something
that would seem as insignificant
as an arrest of a street-level dealer
with just a few bags
can end up being a first grain of salt
in a major drug trafficking organization
that has far-reaching territories
that go all the way to continental US,
to the Dominican Republic,
and all of Puerto Rico.
[narrator] The Task Force have seized
over 70 bags of coke and weed.
And $7,000.
Eight men from three different projects
are in custody,
and any one of them could talk.
Back in the Dominican Republic,
Papi needs to find another way
to get his cocaine to Miami.
- [Papi] How are you?
- [El Cubano] I'm good.
[Papi] I have people
that will take it from the airport
here in the Dominican Republic.
I pay them, and it goes in plane.
We normally take 50 kilos,
which is a million dollars
as soon as it gets to Miami.
Let me know when the drop has been made
to make sure everything is okay.
[El Cubano] Everything is under control,
everything is good.
[Papi] Perfect, look after yourself.
[El Cubano] Nothing will go wrong.
I earn $5,000 for this job,
but I am scared.
If I lose the suitcase,
I run the risk of losing my life.
[narrator] El Cubano is one of Papi's
most experienced coke mules.
No one can know that you do this job,
not even people you trust.
You have to be suspicious of everyone,
even the partner you’re sleeping with,
because if someone steals it from me
or I lose it,
the boss won’t believe I lost it.
He will think that I sold
the drugs somewhere.
[El Cubano] I’m afraid for my family.
I’m afraid for myself.
If one person sells out, we all lose.
You have to keep going,
there is no reverse gear here.
Once we cross the line,
there is no way back.
[narrator]
From Santo Domingo,
it's a two hour ten minute flight
to Miami.
[Customs officer]
What are you bringing back today?
[passenger]
Just my clothes, computers.
Anything to declare?
Food items, alcohol, tobacco, cigarettes?
How much money are you traveling with?
- [passenger] Two hundred.
- [officer] Two hundred?
Have a good one. Thank you, bud.
[officer Matlin] There is no one type
of person that smuggles.
We've had old ladies in wheelchairs.
We've had people in their 20s,
people in their 50s,
and it's tough. We'll go days and days
without something,
but when you get that hit,
it's that thrill.
[narrator]
Chief Matlin run C.B.P.'s Rovers,
a specialist unit dedicated
to stopping drug mules.
[Matlin] Well, we play an adult game
of hide-and-seek here.
These people are trying to hide it
in any way they can.
For us, we have to find it,
it's what we get paid to do.
We're passionate about it.
Narcotics hurt everybody
at every level of society.
Any bit that we can try to stop
I think is really important.
[Matlin]
We have a very short time period
before they retrieve their bag
and walk out.
So my team goes through special training
to make those quick decisions on whether
to release, catch, or keep going.
[narrator] Supervisor Silva's team
is monitoring baggage reclaim.
[Silva]
There's 2,000 passengers an hour, and...
there's only so many officers.
It's like finding a needle in a haystack.
The officers may see somebody standing
in a rigid manner,
not looking around,
not having what you would say
a normal tone of behavior
when you're going through an airport.
[Silva]
You gotta hone in on those individuals,
and select those,
and ask them a few questions:
What they're doing here,
the reason for the travel,
who they were with,
to determine if we're going to hold on
to these individuals for a baggage exam,
or continue on to a more personal search.
Suspect's bag. They're moving him.
[narrator]
Officers are searching the suitcases
of a man spotted acting suspiciously.
[officer] Got something. Yeah.
[narrator]
Inside a shoe, there's a package.
Okay, listen.
The shoe's not gonna go anywhere.
We’re gonna take you in here
and search your person.
Go in that room right there.
They smear mud on them
to make it seem like they're used.
[officer] So basically we discovered
a substance we believe to be hashish,
which is narcotics,
which is illegal in the United States.
As the officer told you,
you're under arrest right now.
I don't know how it got in there,
I bought the shoes in the street.
[officer]
That's fine. When the investigators come,
you're gonna have your chance
to tell all that to them.
Okay.
[narrator] Over two pounds of hash
is hidden in the suspect's shoes.
[Silva]
Earlier in the year, we caught a guy
with the same concealment method,
same style shoes,
and instead of hash, they had cocaine.
[Silva] A concealment method is
a concealment method,
and they use it
for multiple sources of narcotics.
There's just no one concealment method
for hash versus cocaine versus heroin.
[Silva] However they can sneak it in,
they're gonna try to do it,
and we're excited to get it,
no matter what.
[narrator] This suspect is charged
with trafficking cannabis.
But not everything in the airport
comes under the C.B.P.'s watchful eyes.
El Cubano's luggage
doesn't even go through customs.
[El Cubano] The boss works
with people inside the airport.
They can be bought.
[narrator] Papi uses corrupt airport staff
to bypass the usual checkpoints...
a method known by law enforcement
as the internal conspiracy.
[El Cubano] Everything moves
with money in this world.
When you have it,
you can do whatever you want.
Everything gets through.
[narrator]
The coke is in Miami.
Having safely sidestepped
C.B.P.'s sniffer dogs, surveillance,
and searches, its price soars.
[El Animal] What's up?
What's up?
What's up? What we got?
It arrived on time, everything came good?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
[narrator] Distribution boss El Animal
finally has his product.
For the streets, it's good, so I'm happy.
Papi, look here.
How are you, how’s everything going?
Yes.
Yes, it’s all here.
The boxes of ‘perfume’ have arrived.
It’s good, it looks decent.
Okay, so we’ll speak tomorrow then.
Okay. Cuidate. Okay, bye.
I'll pay what I have to pay
to Papi, because...
when I need it, it's here.
Once you pay Papi's place
in Dominican Republic,
my stuff is secure.
Four o'clock is four o'clock.
[El Animal] No fails.
No stories. "The plane didn't make it.
The plane blew up in the air."
None of that.
Papi sends it...
I get it, and I do
what I gotta do with it.
[narrator]
Now the coke will be distributed
to El Animal's network of dealers.
[El Animal]
Once it gets out of here,
everybody's on the edge,
because we don't know
what's going to happen on the road.
It's an adrenaline, it's something
that comes through your body.
It runs through your veins.
It does make you nervous.
It does make your heartrate...
But at the end of the day,
This is what we do.
And it makes you so powerful, because...
everybody needs it, and you're
the only one that has it in your circle.
[narrator] The coke is almost ready
to hit the streets.
There's an event going on
three or four days a week in Miami,
and people are partying and hanging out.
It's not stop. They love to party.
They wanna go drink, keep the party going.
They keep drinking, they wanna do coke.
[narrator] Magic is one of El Animal's
biggest customers.
He buys a kilo a week to break down,
cut up, and sell on.
♪ Tryin' to make a dollar outta 15 cent ♪
♪ Tryin', tryin' to make a dollar
outta 15 cent... ♪
[Magic] You have different denominations
that I deal with...
Twenties, forties, hundreds.
Depends on what you want.
Half ounce, ounce.
It goes up, more and more.
I'll bag as much as I can
until I hear the phone ringing.
Hope you make enough money
to where you don't have to do it anymore.
This last batch, I got,
I made between...
$9,000 and $10,000 profit-wise.
Everybody's trying to make a living.
This is capitalism.
♪ Tryin' to make a dollar outta 15 cent ♪
♪ Tryin', ' tryin'
to make a dollar outta 15 cent ♪
♪ Tryin' to make a dollar outta 15 cent ♪
♪ Tryin', tryin' to make a dollar
outta 15 cent ♪
[narrator]
But to reach the consumer,
the coke has one last line
of defense to cross.
[Lt Krotenberg] When I come out,
I go past all of the areas
known for street-level
narcotics sales,
and see if any of the people are outside
that I know to be sellers.
Also, we can follow a user around
in an unmarked car.
It's not hard to do.
[Krotenberg]
You just follow them around
and they'll ride right up to the hole,
and make the buy.
[narrator] Lieutenant Krotenberg
is running a six-car patrol,
in one of Miami's most
notorious coke selling neighborhoods.
[Krotenberg] The sheer quantity of cocaine
that comes into this state
is the challenge.
There's not enough
law enforcement officers.
It's almost like trying to stop the tide.
We haven't had the influx
of methamphetamine
and other drugs that other areas
of the country have had.
[Krotenberg] Our cocaine cartels
and traffickers won't allow
another drug to come in here.
They make too much money on the cocaine.
Oh, he is definitely open tonight, okay.
[narrator] Krotenberg spots a man
who looks like he could be dealing.
[Krotenberg] What are you guys up to?
He buying a chain from you?
[suspect]
He was trying to see if I wanted to...
- [Krotenberg] You selling, James?
- [James] Yeah.
[suspect] You know me.
Okay, have we got any drugs,
any guns, knives, anything like that?
- Lift your shirt up for me.
- [James] Nah.
[Krotenberg]
Nothing? Nothing. What's in your pockets?
Put your hands on there for me.
How much weed is in
that baggie that I felt?
[narrator]
The search reveals nothing, but cash.
All right, guys.
[officer on radio]
One-twenty request, is everything to QCH?
Any unit can try Alexandria and three…
three, maybe.
Is there any Opa Loc units monitoring?
One of the police officers just requested
emergency backup,
and he can't get to his radio,
[Krotenberg]
They can't raise him.
[narrator]
This spot is renowned for drug sales.
[officer]
Get out from underneath the car.
[officer on radio]
If you can, you can slow down the...
[officer]
You're under arrest, okay?
You're in possession of narcotics.
You can stop fighting, okay?
With your stupid ass shit,
resisting a police officer.
Okay? You're under arrest.
Okay? Don't move,
'cause you're gonna get tazed.
[suspect] Putting my hands on my chest.
Like, I'm scared, but I was nervous.
[stammering]
I just got off... I just got off work.
I prefer if you didn't hit my officers.
I mean, that's...
[suspect] You're putting your hand
on my shoulder. What's wrong with you?
[officer] Roll onto your ass.
[Krotenberg] That's a pair
of white tennis shoes tied together.
That signifies that this location here
has been known to sell cocaine.
[narrator]
But all they can find is cannabis.
[Krotenberg] Why can't you just comply
with the officer?
- [Krotenberg] What is that, powder?
- [officer] No, it's just a piece of...
- [officer] Powder residue.
- [Krotenberg] Here's a bag of powder.
- [officer] Huh?
- [Krotenberg]There's a bag of powder.
- [Officer] Where?
- [Krotenberg] Right here.
A bag of powdered cocaine.
[officer]
Hey Larry, he has powder on him.
But it's just a ten dollar bag
of powdered cocaine.
[narrator] This suspect isn't a dealer.
He's a user.
And tonight's hunt for dealers continues.
Right now we're setting up
on a known drug hole.
[Krotenberg]
It's just one of our problem areas
that we spend a good portion
of our time in.
The dealers will try and justify
their actions any way they can,
but they're they're actually, you know,
preying on people's weaknesses.
I got into this line of work
to help people.
and, you know, I have a soft spot
for the disadvantaged,
the underdog, or somebody
that's being picked on.
So I go out and do everything that I can
to make their life a little better.
[narrator]
It's here on the streets of America
that the true cost of the cocaine trade
can be measured...
[Krotenberg]Hello!
[narrator]
...in the wasted lives of the addicts.
- [Krotenberg] What's going on?
- [suspect] Nothing.
[Krotenberg] You just passing through?
[Krotenberg]
You haven't smoked any crack today?
- [suspect] No.
- [Krotenberg] All right.
Let me see your thumbs.
- [Krotenberg] That's your hands.
- [suspect] My hands might be a little...
[Krotenberg] Miss Floyd,
you are cracked out right now.
- Right now, I'm drunk.
- [Krotenberg] You ain't drunk.
- [Krotenberg] You're probably drunk, too.
- Man, smell my hand.
I don't wanna smell your hand.
I don't know where your hand's been.
[Krotenberg] We've done probably
15 or 20 search warrants
on this location specifically.
The people we're dealing with now
are high on crack
to the point at which they can't even,
you know, function in society.
[Krotenberg]
How long you been using narcotics?
[Rico] Since 1985.
[Krotenberg]
What's your drug of choice?
[Rico] Back then, it was pot.
Now, it's crack.
[Krotenberg]
When was the last time you used crack?
[Krotenberg]
What time is it now?
Okay, well just to help you for reference,
it's... It's 1:20.
So what do we say? One o'clock?
[Rico] I believe...
All right, so it's been a good 20 minutes
since you smoked the rock.
You're aware this... All the drugs,
everything that's smuggled
into the country,
this is the ultimate, you're the end game.
You're where it winds up.
[Krotenberg] Your whole existence
right now is just smoking crack.
- [Rico] Yes, sir.
- [Krotenberg] One rock to another.
[narrator]
It isn't only Miami that suffers
from the blight of crack addiction.
It's a nationwide problem.
One that El Animal and his crew
make sure to exploit to the max.
[El Animal]
We're in the business of getting it,
and just letting it go.
I ship it to Philly,
North Carolina, South Carolina,
to New York to Brooklyn,
Manhattan, the Bronx.
You know, these are people
that we deal with all year round.
It's not a nice game, but...
somebody's gotta play it.
[El Animal]
They don't want it. They need it.
So we're the doctors.
We're gonna supply it...
all year long...
all week long...
all day long.
It doesn't matter.
If the money's there,
you will have your product.
[theme music playing]
American authorities for his alleged role
in smuggling thousands of tons of cocaine
into the United States.
[officer] There's a bag of powder.
Bag of powdered cocaine.
- Hey Larry, he has powder on him.
- [officer] You're under arrest.
On a weekly basis we intercept
at least 1,500 kilograms of cocaine.
- [officer on radio] Three, two, one...
- Yeah, that's them right there.
[trafficker] Go, go, go!
[Papi]
We are moving about 150 to 200 kilo.
You know, there's a lot of money involved.
[El Hombre]
If I had to burn, I burnt.
If I had to kill, I kill.
[officer on radio]
Is there any Opa Loc units monitoring?
[El Animal]
They don't want it. They need it.
So we're the doctors.
[El Animal] My name is El Animal.
That means the animal.
[El Animal] I do a lot of fucked up shit,
but I carry myself
as a businessman.
If you pull out a gun,
you have to kill me.
You can't leave me alive.
They know the consequences.
[narrator] El Animal heads up the US side
of a major coke trafficking ring.
[El Animal]
Our Caribbean operation is big,
but it's to a level
where you can control it.
I receive cocaine
from the Dominican Republic.
My job is to make sure that it goes
from point A to point B.
[El Animal] We're probably talking about
15 to 20 keys weekly.
In terms of money we're probably
talking about 2 million dollars weekly,
clean money.
With the Caribbean connection,
the powder cocaine is always available.
That's snow!
[El Animal] It never stop snowing in Miami.
It is the Magic City.
[narrator] El Animal supplies a network
of dealers across Miami and beyond.
[El Animal] Everybody pays. Everybody.
I don't give a fuck who you are.
Everybody pays.
[El Animal] If I help you,
and I find out
that you're trying to fuck me,
I will come and fuck everybody
in your fucking family.
We in the business to make money,
and you know we cannot get crossed.
[narrator] Today is payday.
[El Animal] I'm here to pick up the money.
- That's what it's all about.
- [dealer] Check that.
[El Animal] The dope is good,
so the money always has to be right,
and that's just the way it is.
[narrator]
Flush with his customers' cash,
it's time for El Animal
to order more coke.
[El Animal] Good evening, Papi.
How's it going?
Good.
This Friday.
Yes.
Ciao.
The shipment's on the way for Friday.
So...
we just gotta play it by ear now.
Wait till Friday, get the phone call,
and we'll take it from there. That's it.
Papi is the inventor
of getting it here safe.
Papi is an individual
that I met in prison,
and were loyal to each other in prison.
He makes sure that we get
what we need.
[narrator] El Animal's supplier, Papi,
is based 800 miles southeast of Miami.
in the Caribbean's number one
cocaine distribution hub:
The Dominican Republic.
[Latino hip hop playing]
Security.
How are you?
Yes, all good. All good. I'm here.
Yes, we're good to go.
Okay.
Around 2:00, 2:30 in the morning?
All good.
Okay, good.
[narrator] Papi and his trafficking gang
are expecting
a 100 kilo coke shipment tonight.
Right now the Colombians is actually
playing a lot of games,
so my cocaine, I get it from Peru.
[Papi] As of right now, within a month,
we are moving about 150 to 200 kilos.
Sometimes, it could be 300.
You know there's a lot of money involved.
[narrator] Papi's paid his Peruvian
contacts a million dollars up front,
and right now, all they can do is wait.
[Papi] Once it reaches my hand,
I have my own people that I work with
who takes out everything that comes in.
It's family.
They come from the family.
We don't have anyone outside
that we don't know about
the we don't know where they come from,
because it's not safe.
I've been doing this since I was 13, 14,
but I don't want my children
to be in the business.
Just like my father didn't want me
in the business,
but once you reach to an age
that you are involved in the family,
there's no way that you can be out of it.
[phone rings]
Yes, hi.
Yes, we’re good to go.
Everything is ready.
Okay.
[narrator] 2:00 a.m., and the Peruvians
are making their move.
Papi's coke comes from the Peruvian Andes
where the price of a kilo starts
at just $1,000.
The suppliers have
already smuggled it over land
to the north coast of Venezuela.
Now, they have to get it 500 miles
across the Caribbean Sea.
Just inside Dominican waters,
a local fishing boat collects
the million-dollar cargo.
[Papi] Go!
Follow me.
[narrator]
As the boat docks, the risks soar.
[Papi] Go, go, go, go.
Go, go, go.
[narrator] This area is heavily patrolled
by the local police.
[Papi] Go, go, go! Move it!
[narrator]
Rival gangs also stalk the river,
determined to seize
any shipments by force.
[Papi] Quick! Work, work, work!
Go!
Quick, quick, quick!
These are kilos of cocaine.
Mission accomplished.
[narrator] Each kilo is now worth
over ten times its original price.
[henchman] It's good merchandise.
[Papi] Okay, good.
How are you?
Everything is in perfect condition.
You can expect it all.
Okay.
I'll call you when it's sent out.
That was the guy.
You know what you have to do.
When you're done, call me.
[narrator] Two of Papi's most trusted men
must now traffic the coke 90 miles east
across the Mona Passage
to Puerto Rico,
the gateway to the US mainland.
But standing guard is the full might
of the US Air and Marine operations.
And they've just scrambled
a DHC-8 surveillance plane.
[Agent Skeen] I received information
from a trusted law enforcement partner
in regards to a contraband load
that's coming from the northern part
of Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico.
so what I'm doing is going out,
and I'm searching
the normal smuggling routes
or historical smuggling routes,
looking for this vessel.
[narrator] Their intel says
the traffickers are using a fishing boat
that has just left port.
[Skeen] The drug organizations,
they want to enter Puerto Rico,
because once contraband's in Puerto Rico,
it's considered in United States.
Therefor, anything leaving Puerto Rico
doesn't have to go through customs.
They know that if they can
get it into Puerto Rico,
It's easier for them
to get into the States.
I got a few Targets in the zone.
Just trying to see what's what.
[Skeen] I've a vessel running due north.
Looks like he's directly
in the Mona Passage right now,
maybe approximately 40 miles south
of Mona Island.
Hey, can you please advise
what assets I have available to play?
[narrator] The suspect vessel is
already halfway to Puerto Rico.
It needs to be intercepted, fast.
Back at base, a Blackhawk helicopter
is ready for takeoff.
Its crew carry a 50 caliber rifle...
capable of destroying
a trafficker's boat engine from the air.
[Agent Hohol] Hey Ray, do me a favor.
Circle this vessel.
[Ray] Roger.
[Hohol] Kinda like the type
we're looking for right now.
However, this one is blue in color.
So we're going to continue our mission
and keep looking for that suspect vessel.
[pilot] There's another vessel
off the nose here.
[Hohol] All right, off the nose
just below the horizon,
approximately three miles.
[Hohol] Okay, I have the vessel at 11:00
approximately half mile away closing.
[pilot] Yeah, that's them right there.
[Hohol] We're gonna try to link up
with one of my Marine units
to go in and take a closer look.
We are on a vessel inbound
to the Combate area
approximately three miles offshore.
- [Pilot] Okay.
- [Hohol] We've got you in sight.
Roger. Good. Copy.
They're about 15 nautical miles from us.
Roger that.
[narrator]
The chopper will guide the Marine unit in
so they can search the suspect vessel.
You always prepare for the worst.
[Agent Perez] They're protecting the drug,
and we're the bad guy for them.
You want to stop them no matter what.
you want to make sure
they don't make it to land.
[Hohol] I got two POV's,
appears to be one outboard engine.
It's approximately
one mile just to the left of your bow.
Stand by. Forward ten.
Come forward.
Nine, eight, seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one.
Hold your rate, good rate.
[Perez] Buenos dias.
[narrator]
The boat matches their intel.
[Perez]
Do you have your I.D., sir?
- Where did you come from?
- [Fisherman] From over there.
We're on our way back.
- [Perez] Were you diving?
- [Fisherman] Yes.
- [Perez] What did you catch?
- [Fisherman] Lobster.
[Perez] Nice lobster.
You have to think like a smuggler.
Where would I put that?
What place are they not going to check?
[Perez]
And then play that game, so what if?
If I'm them, where should I hide it?
Really friendly.
They were willing to show everything.
The fish they have, the spear gun,
the scuba tank.
[Perez]
It matched what they were saying.
They were just fishing.
[narrator] The boat is clean.
Sometimes when we're gonna send
the shipment that is gonna be a lot,
what we do is that we let the police know
that something's going to Puerto Rico,
but we tell them all the information
about the boat with nothing on there,
and basically all the attention
is going to be into that,
they're gonna leave us alone
so we can go through.
[Papi]
And that's the way we stay in business.
[narrator] Once the coke lands safely
in Puerto Rico, its value doubles.
["Run on" cover by Blues Saraceno playing]
♪ You may run for a long time ♪
♪ Run on, for a long time ♪
♪ Run on, for a long time ♪
♪ Let me tell you
that God's gonna cut you down... ♪
[narrator] Puerto Rico has been used
as a stepping stone
for cocaine headed
to the US mainland for decades,
and the whole island is reeling
from the side effects.
Homeless addicts roam the streets,
and over 100 ultraviolent gangs fight
for control of this lucrative trade.
♪ Let me tell you
that God's gonna cut you down ♪
♪ Let me tell you
that God's gonna cut you down ♪
♪ You may run for a long time ♪
♪ Run on, for a long time ♪
♪ Run on, for a long time ♪
♪ Let me tell you
that God's gonna strike you down ♪
I don’t have scruples,
because when I started
in this business of drugs,
I had to learn...
to defend myself.
If I had to burn, I had to burn.
If I had to kill, I had to kill.
[narrator] It's El Hombre's job to move
the coke from Puerto Rico to Miami.
The sea routes aren’t what they were.
We’re using other routes now,
by air, private planes,
and other routes.
In this business, you have to be clever.
You don't have to be the fastest.
You have to last the longest,
be the most consistent.
[narrator]
Like most Puerto Rican traffickers,
El Hombre gets paid in coke,
which he sells on the local market.
What you see here is solid,
pure, straight from the plant,
and it hasn’t been cut.
This has been prepared
for an injecting addict.
A speedball.
This can’t be used by someone who snorts.
[El Hombre]
Why? Because it will… destroy you.
[narrator]
To turn his coke into cash,
El Hombre employs an army
of street dealers.
The boys in the street carry
a big pack of maybe 60 bags.
They’re going to sell five kilos
of coke per month.
I can make 2.3 million in a year…
Dollars.
[El Hombre]
But the problem with today’s youth
they’re just concerned with
making money for themselves,
and the police are tough,
if they get caught, they sing.
[narrator] Using local street dealers
creates a potentially fatal flaw
in the supply chain.
So, you have to look after yourself.
[El Hombre]
You first, you second, and you third.
In this business I’m in,
you don’t have any friends.
[Agent Ortiz] All right, guys.
We're gonna be having an operation today
with PRPD, San Juan Drug Unit.
We're gonna be doing a search op.
[Ortiz] Everybody gear up.
We're rolling in five, okay?
[Agent] Okay.
[narrator]
Tonight, Agent Ortiz is leading a raid
into San Juan's
drug-infested housing projects.
Their mission: to disrupt
the entire Caribbean supply chain
by targeting its weakest link.
[Ortiz] We'll be arresting
the drug runners, the drug sellers,
the people who just walk out
of the streets.
Once you arrest of the small fish,
the drug sellers in the caserios,
then you get to interview
and you get to flip them,
and they'll go ahead and give us
the next step in the ladder
that goes all the way up
to the criminal organization.
You guys ready?
[Ortiz] This housing project, Montadillo,
is actually one of the most violent
housing projects in the San Juan area.
[Ortiz] We've had cases when,
as we are approaching,
shots have been fired from rifles,
from AK-47s,
so we gotta be extra careful when we're
dealing with these types of criminals.
[officer]
He’s over there, let me out here.
- [Ortiz] Okay, we're gonna go in there.
- [officer] Yeah.
[narrator]
As soon as they enter the projects,
the dealers scatter.
[officer] Over there, grab him!
Over there, over there.
[narrator] A dealer is busted
with coke and cannabis,
but the day's not over yet.
The Task Force need multiple arrests
to increase their chances
of flipping someone.
[radio chatter]
[narrator] For the cops,
Darkness makes the project
even more dangerous.
[officer] Go, go! He's over there!
Over there, over there!
Over there, over there. Just in front.
They got drug dealers
with cash and cell phones.
[Ortiz] We'll get a search warrant
and download the contents
on the telephone.
You're gonna see these people like to keep
in touch via text messaging applications,
[Ortiz] emails, they'll take pictures
of themselves with their firearms,
with money, with drugs,
so all of this is of evidentiary value
for us to further
our criminal investigations.
[Ortiz] You'll see
that it would all link up to gangs
in the Dominican Republic
from something
that would seem as insignificant
as an arrest of a street-level dealer
with just a few bags
can end up being a first grain of salt
in a major drug trafficking organization
that has far-reaching territories
that go all the way to continental US,
to the Dominican Republic,
and all of Puerto Rico.
[narrator] The Task Force have seized
over 70 bags of coke and weed.
And $7,000.
Eight men from three different projects
are in custody,
and any one of them could talk.
Back in the Dominican Republic,
Papi needs to find another way
to get his cocaine to Miami.
- [Papi] How are you?
- [El Cubano] I'm good.
[Papi] I have people
that will take it from the airport
here in the Dominican Republic.
I pay them, and it goes in plane.
We normally take 50 kilos,
which is a million dollars
as soon as it gets to Miami.
Let me know when the drop has been made
to make sure everything is okay.
[El Cubano] Everything is under control,
everything is good.
[Papi] Perfect, look after yourself.
[El Cubano] Nothing will go wrong.
I earn $5,000 for this job,
but I am scared.
If I lose the suitcase,
I run the risk of losing my life.
[narrator] El Cubano is one of Papi's
most experienced coke mules.
No one can know that you do this job,
not even people you trust.
You have to be suspicious of everyone,
even the partner you’re sleeping with,
because if someone steals it from me
or I lose it,
the boss won’t believe I lost it.
He will think that I sold
the drugs somewhere.
[El Cubano] I’m afraid for my family.
I’m afraid for myself.
If one person sells out, we all lose.
You have to keep going,
there is no reverse gear here.
Once we cross the line,
there is no way back.
[narrator]
From Santo Domingo,
it's a two hour ten minute flight
to Miami.
[Customs officer]
What are you bringing back today?
[passenger]
Just my clothes, computers.
Anything to declare?
Food items, alcohol, tobacco, cigarettes?
How much money are you traveling with?
- [passenger] Two hundred.
- [officer] Two hundred?
Have a good one. Thank you, bud.
[officer Matlin] There is no one type
of person that smuggles.
We've had old ladies in wheelchairs.
We've had people in their 20s,
people in their 50s,
and it's tough. We'll go days and days
without something,
but when you get that hit,
it's that thrill.
[narrator]
Chief Matlin run C.B.P.'s Rovers,
a specialist unit dedicated
to stopping drug mules.
[Matlin] Well, we play an adult game
of hide-and-seek here.
These people are trying to hide it
in any way they can.
For us, we have to find it,
it's what we get paid to do.
We're passionate about it.
Narcotics hurt everybody
at every level of society.
Any bit that we can try to stop
I think is really important.
[Matlin]
We have a very short time period
before they retrieve their bag
and walk out.
So my team goes through special training
to make those quick decisions on whether
to release, catch, or keep going.
[narrator] Supervisor Silva's team
is monitoring baggage reclaim.
[Silva]
There's 2,000 passengers an hour, and...
there's only so many officers.
It's like finding a needle in a haystack.
The officers may see somebody standing
in a rigid manner,
not looking around,
not having what you would say
a normal tone of behavior
when you're going through an airport.
[Silva]
You gotta hone in on those individuals,
and select those,
and ask them a few questions:
What they're doing here,
the reason for the travel,
who they were with,
to determine if we're going to hold on
to these individuals for a baggage exam,
or continue on to a more personal search.
Suspect's bag. They're moving him.
[narrator]
Officers are searching the suitcases
of a man spotted acting suspiciously.
[officer] Got something. Yeah.
[narrator]
Inside a shoe, there's a package.
Okay, listen.
The shoe's not gonna go anywhere.
We’re gonna take you in here
and search your person.
Go in that room right there.
They smear mud on them
to make it seem like they're used.
[officer] So basically we discovered
a substance we believe to be hashish,
which is narcotics,
which is illegal in the United States.
As the officer told you,
you're under arrest right now.
I don't know how it got in there,
I bought the shoes in the street.
[officer]
That's fine. When the investigators come,
you're gonna have your chance
to tell all that to them.
Okay.
[narrator] Over two pounds of hash
is hidden in the suspect's shoes.
[Silva]
Earlier in the year, we caught a guy
with the same concealment method,
same style shoes,
and instead of hash, they had cocaine.
[Silva] A concealment method is
a concealment method,
and they use it
for multiple sources of narcotics.
There's just no one concealment method
for hash versus cocaine versus heroin.
[Silva] However they can sneak it in,
they're gonna try to do it,
and we're excited to get it,
no matter what.
[narrator] This suspect is charged
with trafficking cannabis.
But not everything in the airport
comes under the C.B.P.'s watchful eyes.
El Cubano's luggage
doesn't even go through customs.
[El Cubano] The boss works
with people inside the airport.
They can be bought.
[narrator] Papi uses corrupt airport staff
to bypass the usual checkpoints...
a method known by law enforcement
as the internal conspiracy.
[El Cubano] Everything moves
with money in this world.
When you have it,
you can do whatever you want.
Everything gets through.
[narrator]
The coke is in Miami.
Having safely sidestepped
C.B.P.'s sniffer dogs, surveillance,
and searches, its price soars.
[El Animal] What's up?
What's up?
What's up? What we got?
It arrived on time, everything came good?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
[narrator] Distribution boss El Animal
finally has his product.
For the streets, it's good, so I'm happy.
Papi, look here.
How are you, how’s everything going?
Yes.
Yes, it’s all here.
The boxes of ‘perfume’ have arrived.
It’s good, it looks decent.
Okay, so we’ll speak tomorrow then.
Okay. Cuidate. Okay, bye.
I'll pay what I have to pay
to Papi, because...
when I need it, it's here.
Once you pay Papi's place
in Dominican Republic,
my stuff is secure.
Four o'clock is four o'clock.
[El Animal] No fails.
No stories. "The plane didn't make it.
The plane blew up in the air."
None of that.
Papi sends it...
I get it, and I do
what I gotta do with it.
[narrator]
Now the coke will be distributed
to El Animal's network of dealers.
[El Animal]
Once it gets out of here,
everybody's on the edge,
because we don't know
what's going to happen on the road.
It's an adrenaline, it's something
that comes through your body.
It runs through your veins.
It does make you nervous.
It does make your heartrate...
But at the end of the day,
This is what we do.
And it makes you so powerful, because...
everybody needs it, and you're
the only one that has it in your circle.
[narrator] The coke is almost ready
to hit the streets.
There's an event going on
three or four days a week in Miami,
and people are partying and hanging out.
It's not stop. They love to party.
They wanna go drink, keep the party going.
They keep drinking, they wanna do coke.
[narrator] Magic is one of El Animal's
biggest customers.
He buys a kilo a week to break down,
cut up, and sell on.
♪ Tryin' to make a dollar outta 15 cent ♪
♪ Tryin', tryin' to make a dollar
outta 15 cent... ♪
[Magic] You have different denominations
that I deal with...
Twenties, forties, hundreds.
Depends on what you want.
Half ounce, ounce.
It goes up, more and more.
I'll bag as much as I can
until I hear the phone ringing.
Hope you make enough money
to where you don't have to do it anymore.
This last batch, I got,
I made between...
$9,000 and $10,000 profit-wise.
Everybody's trying to make a living.
This is capitalism.
♪ Tryin' to make a dollar outta 15 cent ♪
♪ Tryin', ' tryin'
to make a dollar outta 15 cent ♪
♪ Tryin' to make a dollar outta 15 cent ♪
♪ Tryin', tryin' to make a dollar
outta 15 cent ♪
[narrator]
But to reach the consumer,
the coke has one last line
of defense to cross.
[Lt Krotenberg] When I come out,
I go past all of the areas
known for street-level
narcotics sales,
and see if any of the people are outside
that I know to be sellers.
Also, we can follow a user around
in an unmarked car.
It's not hard to do.
[Krotenberg]
You just follow them around
and they'll ride right up to the hole,
and make the buy.
[narrator] Lieutenant Krotenberg
is running a six-car patrol,
in one of Miami's most
notorious coke selling neighborhoods.
[Krotenberg] The sheer quantity of cocaine
that comes into this state
is the challenge.
There's not enough
law enforcement officers.
It's almost like trying to stop the tide.
We haven't had the influx
of methamphetamine
and other drugs that other areas
of the country have had.
[Krotenberg] Our cocaine cartels
and traffickers won't allow
another drug to come in here.
They make too much money on the cocaine.
Oh, he is definitely open tonight, okay.
[narrator] Krotenberg spots a man
who looks like he could be dealing.
[Krotenberg] What are you guys up to?
He buying a chain from you?
[suspect]
He was trying to see if I wanted to...
- [Krotenberg] You selling, James?
- [James] Yeah.
[suspect] You know me.
Okay, have we got any drugs,
any guns, knives, anything like that?
- Lift your shirt up for me.
- [James] Nah.
[Krotenberg]
Nothing? Nothing. What's in your pockets?
Put your hands on there for me.
How much weed is in
that baggie that I felt?
[narrator]
The search reveals nothing, but cash.
All right, guys.
[officer on radio]
One-twenty request, is everything to QCH?
Any unit can try Alexandria and three…
three, maybe.
Is there any Opa Loc units monitoring?
One of the police officers just requested
emergency backup,
and he can't get to his radio,
[Krotenberg]
They can't raise him.
[narrator]
This spot is renowned for drug sales.
[officer]
Get out from underneath the car.
[officer on radio]
If you can, you can slow down the...
[officer]
You're under arrest, okay?
You're in possession of narcotics.
You can stop fighting, okay?
With your stupid ass shit,
resisting a police officer.
Okay? You're under arrest.
Okay? Don't move,
'cause you're gonna get tazed.
[suspect] Putting my hands on my chest.
Like, I'm scared, but I was nervous.
[stammering]
I just got off... I just got off work.
I prefer if you didn't hit my officers.
I mean, that's...
[suspect] You're putting your hand
on my shoulder. What's wrong with you?
[officer] Roll onto your ass.
[Krotenberg] That's a pair
of white tennis shoes tied together.
That signifies that this location here
has been known to sell cocaine.
[narrator]
But all they can find is cannabis.
[Krotenberg] Why can't you just comply
with the officer?
- [Krotenberg] What is that, powder?
- [officer] No, it's just a piece of...
- [officer] Powder residue.
- [Krotenberg] Here's a bag of powder.
- [officer] Huh?
- [Krotenberg]There's a bag of powder.
- [Officer] Where?
- [Krotenberg] Right here.
A bag of powdered cocaine.
[officer]
Hey Larry, he has powder on him.
But it's just a ten dollar bag
of powdered cocaine.
[narrator] This suspect isn't a dealer.
He's a user.
And tonight's hunt for dealers continues.
Right now we're setting up
on a known drug hole.
[Krotenberg]
It's just one of our problem areas
that we spend a good portion
of our time in.
The dealers will try and justify
their actions any way they can,
but they're they're actually, you know,
preying on people's weaknesses.
I got into this line of work
to help people.
and, you know, I have a soft spot
for the disadvantaged,
the underdog, or somebody
that's being picked on.
So I go out and do everything that I can
to make their life a little better.
[narrator]
It's here on the streets of America
that the true cost of the cocaine trade
can be measured...
[Krotenberg]Hello!
[narrator]
...in the wasted lives of the addicts.
- [Krotenberg] What's going on?
- [suspect] Nothing.
[Krotenberg] You just passing through?
[Krotenberg]
You haven't smoked any crack today?
- [suspect] No.
- [Krotenberg] All right.
Let me see your thumbs.
- [Krotenberg] That's your hands.
- [suspect] My hands might be a little...
[Krotenberg] Miss Floyd,
you are cracked out right now.
- Right now, I'm drunk.
- [Krotenberg] You ain't drunk.
- [Krotenberg] You're probably drunk, too.
- Man, smell my hand.
I don't wanna smell your hand.
I don't know where your hand's been.
[Krotenberg] We've done probably
15 or 20 search warrants
on this location specifically.
The people we're dealing with now
are high on crack
to the point at which they can't even,
you know, function in society.
[Krotenberg]
How long you been using narcotics?
[Rico] Since 1985.
[Krotenberg]
What's your drug of choice?
[Rico] Back then, it was pot.
Now, it's crack.
[Krotenberg]
When was the last time you used crack?
[Krotenberg]
What time is it now?
Okay, well just to help you for reference,
it's... It's 1:20.
So what do we say? One o'clock?
[Rico] I believe...
All right, so it's been a good 20 minutes
since you smoked the rock.
You're aware this... All the drugs,
everything that's smuggled
into the country,
this is the ultimate, you're the end game.
You're where it winds up.
[Krotenberg] Your whole existence
right now is just smoking crack.
- [Rico] Yes, sir.
- [Krotenberg] One rock to another.
[narrator]
It isn't only Miami that suffers
from the blight of crack addiction.
It's a nationwide problem.
One that El Animal and his crew
make sure to exploit to the max.
[El Animal]
We're in the business of getting it,
and just letting it go.
I ship it to Philly,
North Carolina, South Carolina,
to New York to Brooklyn,
Manhattan, the Bronx.
You know, these are people
that we deal with all year round.
It's not a nice game, but...
somebody's gotta play it.
[El Animal]
They don't want it. They need it.
So we're the doctors.
We're gonna supply it...
all year long...
all week long...
all day long.
It doesn't matter.
If the money's there,
you will have your product.
[theme music playing]